============================= IGDA Newsletter - August 2003 ============================= ============================= 0: A Word From Kathy Schoback 1: IGDA News - 25 GDC Europe Student Scholarships Awarded - Ongoing Volunteer/Contribution Opportunities - IGDA and the Tokyo Game Show - Articles/Interviews Update - Columns Update 2: Chapter Updates... 3: From the Wires - Game Makers Aren't Chasing Women - Arcade Addicts Joust With Past - Violent Video Games: Jones vs. White Debate - Are Games Good? - France offers grants for games - Justifying Academic Interest - Educators Turn to Games for Help - Japan Government Investigates Video Games - Sega names new HitMaker president - 25 Smartest Moments in Gaming - Experts: Games industry faces major change - Greece warned over gaming mess - Afghan City Closes Video Game Store - iDevGames Kicks off the uDevGame 2003 Contest - To Kill an Avatar - Regulating Video Games: Must Government Mind Our Children? - Video games as teaching tools? - Indies Show They've Got Game 4: Logistical Bits ============================= ============================= 0: A Word From Kathy Schoback ============================= Dear Members and friends, Last month, I used the privilege of this "soapbox" to encourage members to think about what you derive from your membership. This month, the board of directors is beginning an initiative to answer the second part of that question: what should be the focus of the IGDA? The years since the organization's transition to a professionally-run nonprofit have seen an upswell of activities under the IGDA umbrella. Any developer with initiative and the desire to see a project done could jump into the figurative sandbox and do good work within the current organization's structure. We have also seen unprecedented membership growth. However, the IGDA is now facing growing pains. While managing limited resources is certainly one of our challenges, at a more fundamental level, with so many initiatives having been sprouted it is difficult to tell what the IGDA truly "stands for." Is it improvement of the craft? Agitating for change in the industry? Working to set industry-wide standards? Or, building social networks via chapters? We may be any number of these things, but we're beginning to realize that we can't be all of these things equally well. This is where the board needs your guidance. Go to the online poll and tell us what attributes you most associate with the IGDA. We will use that "snapshot" of our collective self-image to help establish our focus for the future. http://www.igda.org/Forums/showthread.php?threadid=6358 As always, debates and anecdotal feedback to support your opinion is welcome. With great appreciation - Kathy Schoback Chairperson, IGDA Director of Product Operations, Eidos ========================================= Advert: Austin Game Developers Conference ========================================= September 11-12, 2003, Austin, Texas THE Conference for Online Multiplayer Game Development: 6 Tracks, 48 Sessions. Speakers include industry veterans from Atari, Ubi Soft, Electronic Arts, Sony Online, Mythic Entertainment, GameSpy, Turbine, NCsoft, Wolfpack Studios and others. Plus keynotes from Mark Jacobs, CEO of Mythic Entertainment and Ralph Koster, Chief Designer of Star Wars Galaxies. Also, a complete two-day track on mobile game development and LivePitch - putting indie PC and console developers in front of leading publishers. Learn from experts at an affordable price: $95 for professionals, $65 for students. Register online: http://www.GameConference.com ============================================== ============ 1: IGDA News ============ 25 GDC Europe Student Scholarships Awarded ------------------------------------------ The recipients of the 2nd annual GDC Europe Student Scholarships have been announced. The students represent a diverse range of disciplines and cultures, and include students from Asia, Europe, North America and South America. They will have access to seminars, panels and special events at GDCE, Europe's premier conference exclusively devoted to video game development and related activities. http://www.igda.org/newsroom/press_080603.php Ongoing Volunteer/Contribution Opportunities -------------------------------------------- Various committees are still looking for volunteers and contributors. Check out the volunteers page for details on the following opps: - Online Games White Paper - Funding and Assistance Resource Listings - Quality of Life White Paper http://www.igda.org/community/volunteers.php IGDA and the Tokyo Game Show ---------------------------- The IGDA's Tokyo chapter is supporting the conference program of the Tokyo Game Show, to be held September 26th. The chapter's coordinator, Kiyoshi Shin, has worked with TGS to bring over IGDA board member alumni Graeme Devine and David Weinstein to participate in lectures and a panel discussing game development methods to survive in the global market. They will be joined by Sega legend Yu Suzuki. Check the TGS and IGDA Tokyo chapter websites for further details: http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/english/tgs.html http://www.igda.jp/ Articles/Interviews Update -------------------------- The following articles and interviews have been added for the month of July: - Article: Nuts and Bolts of Business Formation by Aaron Gumbinger, Haas & Najarian http://www.igda.org/articles/agumbinger_bizforms.php - SIGGRAPH 2003 Summary Report & Pictures http://www.igda.org/blogs/realitypanic/archives/000030.html - SIGGRAPH Curricular Challenges and Opportunities Group Notes http://www.igda.org/academia/IGDA_2003_SIGGGRAPH_EducatorsForum_Notes.pdf Columns Update -------------- Our monthly columns have been updated for August: - The Ivory Tower: Games and Rhetoric: a rhetorical look at gameplay http://www.igda.org/columns/ivorytower/ - Famous Last Words: Is a "Ten Percentery" Worth Ten Percent? http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/ - Culture Clash: Never Ending the Story - Is it time for new rules about replayability? http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/ - The Games Game: The Path to Designer http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/ ================== 2: Chapter Updates ================== Vancouver Meeting, September > On Dilemmas in Video Games with Steve Bocska http://www.igda.org/vancouver DC & Vicinity Meeting, August > Next Meeting: August 23- TeqCorner, McLean, Virginia http://www.igda.org/dc/meetings.htm New Jersey North Report, August > August '03 - It's Not Dark Over Here http://blender.rutgers.edu/~njigda/meeting_200308.shtml Phoenix Report, August > Meeting Report for 2003 August http://igda-phx.org/resources.php?id=6 Toronto Meeting, September > Next IGDA Toronto Social Event http://www.igda.org/toronto/ Colorado Report, September > MMOG Discussion and Networking Shmoozer http://www.coloradogamedev.org/20030804.html Portland Meeting, August > August PAGDIG Meeting - Bravetree & Garage Games http://www.pagdig.com/ Mexico City Report, July > Minuta 2da reunión http://www.igda.org/mexico/minuta2.php Phoenix Report, July > Meeting Report for 2003 July http://igda-phx.org/resources.php?id=5 New Jersey North Report, July > June '03: Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff http://blender.rutgers.edu/~njigda/meeting_200306.shtml North Carolina Triangle Report, July > Game Audio at King's Barcade http://www.igda.org/nctriangle/meeting_jul03.htm Colorado Report, July > Mini Discussion Groups http://www.coloradogamedev.org/20030707.html Portland Report, July > June 2003 Meeting Report http://www.pagdig.com/meeting02.htm ================= 3: From the Wires ================= Game Makers Aren't Chasing Women http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59620,00.html Arcade Addicts Joust With Past http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59948,00.html Violent Video Games: Jones vs. White Debate http://justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=414 Are Games Good? http://www.msnbc.com/news/934628.asp France offers grants for games http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3084677.stm Justifying Academic Interest http://www.buzzcut.com/article.php?story=2003072021145918 Educators Turn to Games for Help http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59855,00.html Japan Government Investigates Video Games http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/famitsu/games/news/30159.shtml Sega names new HitMaker president http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=1872 25 Smartest Moments in Gaming http://www.gamespy.com/articles/july03/25smartest/ Experts: Games industry faces major change http://www.geartest.com/sections/games/gamesindustry.html Greece warned over gaming mess http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6072320.html Afghan City Closes Video Game Store http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2910430,00.html iDevGames Kicks off the uDevGame 2003 Contest http://www.idevgames.com/content/article.php?id=131 To Kill an Avatar http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2003/feature_hunter_julaug03.html Regulating Video Games: Must Government Mind Our Children? http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/030624-tk.html Video games as teaching tools? http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/09/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm Indies Show They've Got Game http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59728-2,00.html ================== 4: Logistical Bits ================== Thanks to our Partners! ----------------------- The IGDA extends its sincerest thanks to all our Partners! Without their support the IGDA simply would not survive - let alone thrive. Academy of Art College Alias|Wavefront Art Institute of California - San Diego Butterfly.net Charles River Media Criterion Software Digital Media Center at Seneca College Digital Media Collaboratory at UofT at Austin Discreet Havok Institute for Information Industry, Taiwan Kaydara Mary-Margaret.com Microsoft Research NDL NXN Software Quazal Real Networks SN Systems Sun Microsystems University of Abertay Dundee Universirty of Derby Virtools Xbox Advanced Technology Group Further details and a complete list of Partners are available online: http://www.igda.org/partners Newsletter Subscription ----------------------- You can update your subscription details via your MyProfile page: http://www.igda.org/membership/myprofile.php If you get need help, simply contact us at info@igda.org. IGDA Registration ----------------- Your support is critical to the success of the IGDA, and our industry. There are dozens of reasons to join the IGDA, ranging from personal career advancement to more lofty industry-wide goals. What are you waiting for? Join today. http://www.igda.org/join Contact Information ------------------- Do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions, comments or input. http://www.igda.org/about/contact.php